Seminar 7 – Part 2

Business Intelligence andDecision Support Systems

Ref: Chapter 12 – Turban and Volonino

Learning Objectives1. Identify factors influencing adoption of

business intelligence (BI) and business performance management (BPM).

2. Describe data mining, predictive analytics, digital dashboards, scorecards, and multidimensional data analysis.

3. Identify key considerations for IT-support of managerial decision-making.

4. Understand managerial decision making processes, the decision process, and types of decisions.

Learning Objectives – cont’d

5. Describe decision support systems (DSSs), benefits, and structure.

6. Recognize the importance of real-time BI and decision support for various levels of information workers.

7. Be familiar with automated decision support, its advantages, and areas of application.

Problems – declining market.Saturation of existing market.

Solution – wireless capabilities to provide managers with data that are analyzed immediately to provide actionable feedback to maximize sales.

Results –gained decisive edge & outsmarted its rivals. Data used as strategic weapon.

Business IntelligenceSkills, processes, technologies,

applications and practices used to support decision making. (wiki)◦provide historical, current, and predictive

views of business operations. ◦Common functions of Business Intelligence

technologies are reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, data mining, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, and predictive analytics.

(E)xtract (T)ransform (L)oad ToolsE – involves tools for extracting

the data from source systems (silos).

T – involves converting (transforming) the data into standardized formats.

L – involves loading & integrating data into a system (such as a data warehouse).

Disparate Data – Risks and IssuesResponsiveness requires intelligence

which requires trusted data & reporting systems.

Silos arise creating decisions based upon inaccurate, incomplete, possibly outdated data.

* Data that are too late* Data that are wrong level of detail-too much or too little* Directionless data* Unable to coordinate with departments across enterprise* Unable to share data in a timely manner

Business Intelligence Technologies1990s primarily associated with back

office workers & operations such as accounting, finance & human resources.

2000s expanded to enterprise data to include needs of managers & executives.

Vendors offered advanced analytic, decision support, easy-to-use interfaces, & improved data visualization tools. Web-based delivery became common-place.

Evolved from reporting to predicting.

BI Vendors

Business intelligence – BIG business

Power of Predictive Analytics, Alerts & DSSPredictive Analysis - analyze current and

historical facts to make predictions about future events.◦Real-time view of the data◦Reactive to proactive with respect to future◦Improved data quality◦Shared, common vision of business activity

benefitting key decision makers across enterprise

◦Simple to view KPIs◦ Informed, fast decision making◦Complete, comprehensive audit trails

Top five business pressure driving the adoption of predictive analytics

Business Intelligence SolutionsA BI System:

◦Must be able to access enterprise data sources such as TPS, e-business & e-commerce processes, operational platforms & databases.

◦Needed for real-time decision making.◦Enhanced operational understanding

capabilities.◦Improved cost control & customer

relationship management.

BI Architecture Component 1 - Data Extraction & IntegrationMany sources such as OLAP, ERP,

CRM, SCM, legacy & local data stores, the Web all lacking standardization & consistency.

ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) tools provide data for analyses to support business processes.

Central data repository with data security & administrative tools for information infrastructure.

BI Architecture Component 2 - Enterprise Reporting SystemsProvide standard, ad hoc, or

custom reports.95% of Fortune 500 rely on BI to

access information & reports they need.

Reduces data latency.Decreases time users must

spend collecting the data; increases time spent on analyzing data for better decision-making.

Dashboards & ScorecardsDashboards are typically

operation & tactical in application & use.

Scorecard users are executive, manager, staff strategic level in application & use.

Multidimensional view of sales revenue data

BI Architecture Component 3 - Business Performance ManagementRequires methods to quickly &

easily determine performance versus goals, objectives & alignment strategies.

Relies on BI analysis reporting, queries, dashboards & scorecards.

Objective is strategic – to optimize overall performance of an organization.

Text-MiningContent that is mined include

unstructured data from documents, text from email messages & log data from Internet browsing.

May be major source of competitive advantage.

Needs to be codified with XML & extracted to apply predictive data mining tools to generate real value.

Comprises up to 80% of all information collected.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Data MiningTools that are interactive, visual,

understandable, & work directly on data warehouse of organization.

Simpler tools used by front line workers for immediate & long-term business benefits.

Techniques may be too sophisticated or require extensive knowledge & training.

May require expert statistician to utilize effectively, if at all.

Managers and the Decision Making

Process

Managers Need IT Support from DSS ToolsScenarios, alternatives & risks

are many.Time is always critical

consideration & stress level is high.

Require sophisticated analysis.Geographically dispersed

decision makers with collaboration required.

Often requires reliable forecasting.

Automating Manager’s JobRoutine decisions by mid-level

managers (frontline employees) may be automated fairly easily & frequently.

Automation of routine decisions leaves more time for supervising, training & motivating nonmanagers.

Top level managerial decision making is seldom routine & very difficult to automate.

IT Available to Support Managers (MSS)DSS - indirect support – discovery,

communication & collaboration with web facilitation.

DSS – provide support primarily to analytical, quantitative types of decisions.

E(xecutive)SS – early BI – supports informational roles of executives.

G(roup)DSS – supports managers & staff working in groups, remotely or closely.

Common devices – PDAs, Blackberrys, iPhones.

IT support for Decision Making

Phases in the decision-making process

Decision Modeling & ModelsDecision model – simplified

representation, or abstraction of reality.

Simplicity is key.Based upon set of assumptions.Requires monitoring & adjustment

periodically as assumptions change.Modeling – virtual experiments reduce

cost, compress time, manipulate variables, reduces risk.

Framework for Computerized Decision AnalysisStructured – routine & repetitive

problems.Unstructured – lots of

uncertainty, no definitive or clear-cut solutions.

Semistructured – between the extremes. Most true DSS are focused here.

DSS & ManagersNeed new & accurate

information.Time is critical.Complex organization for

tracking.Unstable environment.Increasing competition.Existing systems could not

support operational requirements.

Characteristics & Capabilities - DSSSensitivity analysis for “what if”

& goal-seeking strategy setting. Increases system flexibility & usefulness.

Basic components – database, model base, user interface, users & knowledge base.

ADS (Automated Decision Support)Rule-based systems with

automatic solutions to repetitive managerial problems.

Closely related to business analytics.

Automating the decision-making process is usually achieved by capturing manager’s expertise.

Rules may be part of expert systems or other intelligent systems.

Characteristics & Benefits of ADSRapidly builds business rules to

automate or guide decision makers, & deploys them into almost any operating environment.

Injects predictive analytics into rule-based applications, increasing their power & value.

Combines business rules, predictive models & optimization strategies flexibly into enterprise applications.

ADS Applications - Examples

Customizing products & services for customers

Revenue yield management

Uses filtering for handling & prioritizing claims effectively

Managerial Issues - Why BI Projects FailFailure to recognize as

enterprise-wide business initiatives.

Lack of sponsorship.Lack of cooperation.Lack of qualified & available

staff.No appreciation of negative

impact on business profitability.Too much reliance on vendors.

END